Planter



3 Sheets-Shee1; 1.

` (No Model.)

P. F. SHANKS.A

PLANTER.

WITNESS/5S.'

we nunms ravens co., Pnowmmo., wAsmNa-rou, o, c.

3 SheetS-Shet 2.

(No Model.)

F. F. SHANKS.

PLANTBR.

A TTOH/VEYS.

.i `NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK F. SHANKS, OF LA CYGNE, KANSAS.

PLANTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,288, dated July 1,1890.

I Application filed May 24:, 1889. Serial No. 311,935. (No model.) i iTo all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANK F. SHANKs, of Ira Cygne, in the county of Linnand State of Kansas, have invented a new and Improved Planter, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description.

rlhis invention relates to planters, the object of the invention beingto provide aplanter which will deposit a certain required number ofgrains at stated intervals in ground that has not been prepared byplowing; andto theend named the invention consists, essentially, of aplanter-wheel provided with hillopeners arranged to be thrown beyond theperipheral face of the said wheel, all as will be hereinafter fullydescribed, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar figures and letters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a plan view of a planter embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is afrontview thereof in partial section, parts being broken away. Fig. 3 isan enlarged cross-sectional view of the planter. Figure it is a stillfurther enlarged detail view of a portion of one ot' the planter-wheelsand of one of the hillopeners, parts being shown-in section. Fig. 5 is asectional plan view on line o o of Fig.

4. Fig. G is a sectional detail view of the hill-opener. Fig. 7 is adetail view of a portion of one ot' the planter-wheels, the parts beingrepresented as they appear prior to the opening of the slide in thehill-opener. Fig. 8 is a similar View, the part-s, however, beingrepresented as they appear after the wheel has slightly advanced and thehillopener is in its lowest position, the slide of the opener beingraised. Fig. 9 is a similar view representing the parts as they appearafter the wheel has moved still farther onward, and Fig. l0 is a stillfurther enlarged view of a portion of one of the seed drums or hoppersand of one ot' the seed-delivery tubes.

'In the drawings, 10 represents the pole, to which there 4arerigidly-connected laterallyextending frames ll and l1, such framesbeingproperly braced, preferably by diagonal braces l2 and 12. The frames Iland ll carry wheels 13 and 13a, which, when the planter is to be movedfrom place to place, rest upon the ground. To the trames 1l and Il, Ipivotally connect heavy supporting-levers 15 and l5, and to the upperends of these levers I connect rods 16 and 1G, which carry brackets 17and 17, that serve as supports for shafts i8 and 1S, said shafts 1S and1Su being centrally connected by a universal joint 20. Upon the shafts18 and 18, I mount planter-wheels A, two ot said wheels being mountedupon each shaft. The forward ends of the rods lb' and 16 ride inguideways lf) and 19, that are carried by the frames ll and ll,

and in advance of said guideways I mount an operating-shaft 2i, which isformed with downwardly-extendinglever-arms 22 and 22, that are connectedby links 23 and 223 with the lower ends of the levers l'and l5". Theshaft 2l is provided with a lever-arm or handle 25, arranged in aposition such that it may be thrown into engagement with a segmentalrack 26, carried by the 'frame ll.

From the construction above described it will be seen that if the lever25 be thrown forward the levers l5 and 15r` will be rocked in a mannersuch that the shafts IS and 18 will be raised, and in practice I wouldso proportion the parts that by throwing the lever 25 forward andbringing it into engagement with the rack 26 it would carry the wheels A4some distance above the ground.

The hubs 27 of the wheels A are hollow, and to each hub I connect fourradially-extending tubes 28, at the upper ends of which tubes there arearranged valves 29, while to the lower ends of the tubes I connect disks30, the said disks extending eccentrically from the tube. To the axes ofthe disks 30, I connect disks 3l, that are formed with radiallyextendingstuds or pins 32 and with apertures c, and beneath the disks 3l thereare mounted disks 34, which carry a spring 35, arranged to engage thestuds or pins 32 and hold the disk 3l in position. The disk 34 is formedwith an aperture d.

In order that the seed may be delivered to the ground beneath thesurface, I provide a hill-opener 40,-which said opener is pivotallysupported upon brackets el, carried by the wheel-fellies, thehill-opener being arranged to extend through a slot e, that is formedin.

thefelly. This hill-opener is of novel con- ICQ struction, and consistsof a shovel-like body, in which there is formed a bore f, which at timescommunicates with a funnel-like projection 44, that extends downwardfrom the disk 34, the discharge-opening of the bore f being normallyclosed by a slide 45, formed with an upwardly-eXtending stem 46, thatoverlaps the inner face of the felly.

The hill-opener is normally held, as represented in Fig. 7, bya spring47; but in order that the opener may be moved against. the tension ofthe spring to the position in which it is shown in Fig. 8, I provide apresser-foot 48, the stem of which is connected to a bellcrank lever 49,which said lever is in turn Vconnected to the opener by a rod or link50, and as the presser-footis arrangedin advance of the hill-opener itwill be seen that when i the foot bears upon the ground and is forcedtoward the peripheral face of the wheel the lever 49 will be rocked, Aasindicated by the arrow shown in Fig. 7, and the opener will be drawn tothe position in which it is shown in Fig. 8, and as the opener is sodrawn the stem of its slide 45 will bear against the inner face of thefelly and the b'oref will be opened.

As the machine constructed as above described is drawn forward, thegrain is delivered from the seed boxes or hopper-s 27 to the tubes 28when such tubes reach a position beneath the boxes, and from the tubes28 the grain passes downward to the disk 3l, any return of the grain tothe hopper being prevented by the valve 29. passed Within one of therecesses c, the opener 40 being in the position in which it is shown inFig. 7, the upward movelnent of the presser-foot 48, arranged inconnection with the opener, will bring said opener first to the positionin which it is shown in Fig. 8, and finally to the position in which itis shown in Fig. 9. After the wheel A moves beyond the position in whichit. is shown in Fig. 9, the spring 47 will act to throw the presser-footoutward, and the opener 40 will be returned by said spring to theposition in which itis shown in Fig. 7, the latch 5l at this timeengaging one of the pins 32, and the disk 3l will be advanced until thecontents of one of the apertures c is discharged into the funnel-likeattachment 44.

The outer wheels A may, if desired, be provided with markers 60. Theobject of connecting the shafts 18 and 18 by a universal joint is toprovide for the proper operation of the machine irrespective of thecontour of the ground. If desired, closing-shovels might be arranged asshown in the drawings.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. In a planter, the combination, with asupporting-frame carrying wheels on its rear end, of levers pivoted tothe frame, rods secured to the upper ends of the said levers, planter--wheels carried by the rear ends of the said rods, guideways in whichthe forward ends After the grain has of the rods ride, a shaft jou'rnaled ih the frame and provided with an operating-handle, and connectionbetween the shaft and levers pivoted to the frame, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a planter, the combination, with a wheel having a centralseed-box, of a hillopener carried by the wheel and having a passage-waythrough it, a tube leading from the seed-box, a seed-disk at the lowerend of the tube, and a spoutfor conducting the seed from the disk to thehill-opener, substantially as herein shown and described.

In a seed-planter, the combination, with a wheel having a centralseed-box, of a pivoted and spring-held hill-opener carried by the wheeland having a passage through it, a valve for closing the lower end ofthe passage in the hill-opener and adapted to be operated by the fellyof the wheel, a tube leading from the seed-box, a seed-disk at the lowerend of the tube, a spout for conducting the seed from the disk to thehill-opener, a presserfoot, and connections between said foot andhill-opener, substantially as herein shown and described.

4. In a planter, the combination, with a wheel having a central seed-boxand provided with a spout leading from the seed-box, of a seed-disk atthe lower end of the said spout provided with projecting pins, a pivotedhillopener having a passage through it, a spout for conducting the seedfrom the disk to the hill-opener, a latch carried by the hill-opener andadapted to engage the pins of the seeddisk, and means for operating thehill-opener IOO by the forward movement of the planter, substantially asherein shown and described.

5. In a planter, the combination, with a wheel having a central seed boxor hopper, of tubes leading outward from said seed box or hopper, hillopeners, springs arranged in connection with said openers, a funnel-likeattachment leading to the openers, a presserfoot, a bell-crank lever towhich the presserfoot is connected, connections between the bell-cranklever and the hill-openers, a revoluble disk formed with apertures c,and arranged in connection 'with the tubes which lead outward from theseed-box, and latches carried by the hill-openers, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a planter, the combination, with a wheel, of a hill-opener, abell-crank lever connected to the opener, a presser-foot connected tothe bell-crank lever, a gate or valve provided with anupwardly-extending stem carried by the opener, a funnel-like attachment44, a disk 34, formed with an aperture (l, with which the funnel-likeattachment registers, an apertured disk 8l, having projections 32, alatch 5l, carried by the opener, a tube 28, and a central hopper 27,substantially as described.

FRANK F. SHANKS.

Vitncsses:

J. P. KEMo, J. WV. MITCHELL.

lIO

IZO

